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FALL 2009 Seminars Schedule
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Mondays
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Analysis Seminar
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Time: 4:00-5:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
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Host: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Tuesdays
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Combinatorics Seminar
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Time: 2:00-3:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
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Host: Russ Woodroofe
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Graduate Organized Talks Seminar
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Time: 4:00-5:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
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Host: Raphiel Murden
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Wednesdays
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Graduate Students Talk
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Time: 3:00-4:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
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Host: Prof. Guido Weiss
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Algebraic Geometry Seminar
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Time: 4:00-5:30pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 215
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Host: Prof. Mohan Kumar
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Thursdays
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Geometry and Topology Seminar
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Time: 3:00-4:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 111
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Host: Prof. Xiang Tang
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Fridays
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Wavelet Seminar
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Time: 3:30-4:30pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
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Host: Prof. Guido Weiss
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* Times may vary, please consult the schedule below for details:
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DECEMBER 2009
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Tuesday, December 1
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Combinatorics Seminar
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Time: 2:00-3:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Russ Woodroofe
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Speaker: Scott Cook
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Card Shuffling, Part II
Abstract: Since the 1990 revelation of the (deceptively nicknamed) "Seven Shuffles is Sufficient" result in the New York Times, there has been a flurry of activity in the mathematics of card shuffling. I'll discuss the most widely studied shuffling model (the Gilbert-Shannon-Reeds model), describe the methods that leads to the seven shuffles conclusion, and show how card shuffling can be recast in the language of random walks on hyperplane arrangements.
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Wednesday, December 2
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Graduate Students Talk
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Time: 4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Guido Weiss
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Speaker: Prof. Al Baernstein
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: The Stretch Conjecture
Abstract: We propose a 2-variable calculus inequality involving
integrals of partial derivatives of maps from the plane into itself.
Truth of the the conjecture implies the truth of a famous conjecture
in complex and harmonic analysis. Falsity of the conjecture implies
the truth of a famous conjecture in calcules of variations.
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Thursday, December 3
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Geometry and Topology Seminar
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Time: 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 111
Host: Prof. Xiang Tang
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Speaker: Professor Rachel Roberts
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: An introduction to Heegaard Floer homology II
Abstract: TBA
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Thursday, December 3
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. David Wright
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Speaker: Professor Arno van den Essen
Department of Mathematics, University of Nijmegen
Title: A Journey through Magic Squares
Abstract: Magic squares are one of the oldest mathematical objects. Found in various cultures, they have been studied by mathematicians
and laymen for over five thousand years.
In this lecture we will take a journey through the extensive
history of these squares: We will discuss normal magic squares,
pan magic squares, prime magic squares, alpha-magic squares, and
Benjamin Franklin's magic squares. We will give special attention to a
method for constructing Franklin's squares that led to a magic square craze in the Netherlands in 2007.
The lecture is aimed at a general mathematical audience. All students are encouraged to attend.
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Friday, December 4
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Wavelet Seminar
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Time: 3:30-4:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Guido Weiss
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Speaker: Brody Johnson
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Quincunx wavelets on the torus
Abstract: Finite-dimensional wavelet systems will be examined on the torus
using a dilation
operation which downsamples the Fourier transform of a function by the
Quincunx matrix. A
notion of multiresolution analysis is studied and examples modeled after the
classical Shannon
and Haar MRAs will be presented.
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Friday, December 4
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Roya Beheshti-Zavareh
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Speaker: Professor Joseph Landsberg
Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M
Title: Some algebraic geometry useful for signal processing, statistics
and complexity theory
Abstract: In many areas of science one needs to measure properties of tensors. Two
important such properties are the rank and border rank. In this talk I
will explain some of the geometry of these properties. (Relevant
geometric objects are the secant varieties of Segre varieties).
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Tuesday, December 8
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Combinatorics Seminar
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Time: 2:00-3:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Russ Woodroofe
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Speaker: Scott Cook
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Card Shuffling, Part III
Abstract: Since the 1990 revelation of the (deceptively nicknamed) "Seven Shuffles is Sufficient" result in the New York Times, there has been a flurry of activity in the mathematics of card shuffling. I'll discuss the most widely studied shuffling model (the Gilbert-Shannon-Reeds model), describe the methods that leads to the seven shuffles conclusion, and show how card shuffling can be recast in the language of random walks on hyperplane arrangements.
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Wednesday, December 16
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Thesis Defense for M.A. in Statistics
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Time: 2:00-3:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Nan Lin
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Speaker: Jia Wang
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Interval estimation of excess risk related effective doses in tobit model
Abstract: We consider estimation of excess risk related effective dose (ERED) in dose-response studies in tobit model. We first describe the maximum likelihood estimation of EREDs in tobit model, and then we propose five interval estimation methods of EREDs, including the delta method, the Fieller method, the likelihood ratio method, the nonparametric bootstrap method and the parametric bootstrap method. For both nonparametric and parametric methods, we consider three different ways to construct the confidence interval: percentile method, bias-corrected method and bias-corrected accelerated method. We compare the performance of these methods using simulation studies.
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Thursday, December 17
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Thesis Defense for M.A. in Statistics
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Time: 2:30-4:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Stanley Sawyer
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Speaker: Adam R. Hafdahl
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Meta-Analysis for Functions of Heterogeneous Multivariate Effect
Sizes
Abstract: When using meta-analysis to compare and combine statistical
estimates from empirical studies on the same topic, one may analyze
estimates of effect size in their original metric but wish to express
results from this analysis in another metric. More specifically, suppose we
obtain estimates of a multivariate effect-size parameter.s (between-studies)
mean and covariance matrix under a random-effects model but wish to estimate
the mean and covariance matrix of some (possibly vector-valued) nonlinear
function of that effect-size parameter. After presenting a conventional
multivariate random-effects model for the original effect-size estimates and
standard estimators for this model, I describe several specific scenarios in
which one may desire such a re-expression. I then propose two types of
point estimators for the desired function's mean and covariance matrix as
well as delta-method and bootstrap strategies for inference on this
function's mean. I also report findings from Monte Carlo simulations in
which finite-sample properties of these estimators and inference techniques
were evaluated under realistic conditions. Suggestions for further work in
this domain are offered.
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Thursday, December 17
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Speaker: Professor Pasha Pylyavskyy
Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan
Title: Total positivity in loop groups
Abstract: The Edrei-Thoma theorem characterizes totally positive functions, and
plays an important role in character theory of the infinite symmetric
group. The Loewner-Whitney theorem characterizes totally positive
elements of the general linear group, and is fundamental for
Lusztig's
theory of total positivity in reductive groups. In this work we
derive
a common generalization of the two theorems. The talk is based on
joint work with Thomas Lam.
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Friday, December 18
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Major Oral
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Time: 10:00-11:00am
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Profs. Roya Behesti-Zavareh, Mohan Kumar
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Speaker: Wei Deng
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Generic Vanishing and Existence of Minimal Cohomology Classes
on a Principally Polarized Abelian Variety
Abstract: We begin with some key ingredients of a derived functor and
the Fourier-Mukai transform. Then we will see on a principally
polarized abelian variety how the generic vanishing property is
connected to certain vanishings of the Fourier-Mukai transform of the
derived dual. Finally we will use the Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch to
see how it leads to the minimal cohomology classes.
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SPRING 2010 Seminars Schedule
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JANUARY 2010
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Tuesday, January 19
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Speaker: Professor Jason DeBlois
Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois at Chicago
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Thursday, January 21
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Mohan Kumar
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Speaker: Professor Karl Schwede
Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Monday, January 25
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Mohan Kumar
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Speaker: Professor Matthew Kerr
Department of Mathematics, Durham University, United Kindom
Title: Mumford-Tate groups and the classification of Hodge structures
Abstract: Since their introduction in the mid-20th Century, Hodge structures have
been a fundamental tool in transcendental algebraic geometry, for example
in the study of algebraic cycles and moduli of complex algebraic
varieties. Mumford-Tate groups are the symmetry groups of Hodge theory,
and their orbits (Mumford-Tate domains) are the moduli spaces for Hodge
structures with given symmetries.
The 'classical' case of Hodge structures of weight 1 (and those they
generate by linear-algebraic constructions) has been thoroughly studied.
In this case, the MT-domains are Hermitian symmetric spaces whose
arithmetic quotients yield algebraic (Shimura) varieties. The many
beautiful results facilitated by MT groups in this setting include
Deligne's theorem on absolute Hodge cycles and the resolution (by many
authors) of the full Hodge conjecture for various classes of abelian
varieties.
Following on a review of this history, I will describe recent joint work
with P. Griffiths and M. Green on the "nonclassical" higher weight case.
The corresponding theory is in its early stages and is of an entirely
different character: Shimura varieties are replaced by global integral
manifolds of an exterior differential system, and nonclassical
(exceptional) Lie groups turn out to occur as MT groups. In addition to
the general context mentioned above, part of the motivation for our
project was to better understand the very interesting special features of
period domains associated to Calabi-Yau 3-folds, and I will explain a
classification result for the MT subdomains in an important special case.
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Wednesday, January 27
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Xiang Tang
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Speaker: Professor Guoliang Yu
Department of Mathematics, Vanderbilt University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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FEBRUARY 2010
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Monday, February 01
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Speaker: Professor Vasiliy Dolgushev
Department of Mathematics, University of California, Riverside
Title: Puzzles of Deformation Theory
Abstract: A lot of interesting mathematical constructions are
motivated by questions of deformation quantization. In my talk I will
give a popular introduction to this fascinating topic. First, I will
show that formal deformations of an associative algebra are governed
by the Hochschild cochain complex. Second, I will discuss algebraic
operations on this complex. Then I will formulate the famous
Kontsevich's formality theorem and talk about its generalizations.
Finally, I will discuss applications of formality theorems for
Hochschild complexes to computation of Hochschild (co)homology and
description of traces on deformation quantization algebras. If time
will permit then I will also talk about the Kashiwara-Vergne
conjecture and about the mysterious action of the
Grothendieck-Teichmuller group on deformations of the polynomial
algebra.
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Thursday, February 04
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Speaker: Professor Richard Kent
Department of Mathematics, Brown University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Tuesday, February 09
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Speaker: Professor Alvaro Pelayo
Department of Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley
Title: Hamiltonian Dynamics in Symplectic and Spectral Geometry
Abstract: TBA
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Tuesday, February 16
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Richard Rochberg
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Speaker: Professor Frederic Rochon
Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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MARCH 2010
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Wednesday, March 24
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 3:00-3:30pm
Talk: 3:30-4:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Quo-Shin Chi
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Speaker: Professor Reiko Miyaoka
Department of Mathematics, Tohoku University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Thursday, March 25
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Profs. Al Baernstein, Guido Weiss
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Speaker: Professor Rodrigo Bañuelos
Department of Mathematics, Purdue University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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APRIL 2010
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Thursday, April 8
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Quo-Shin Chi
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Speaker: Professor Yng-Ing Lee
Department of Mathematics, National Taiwan University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Wednesday, April 14
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Colloquium
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Time: 4:00-5:00pm
Location: TBA
Hosts: Profs. David Wright, Ken Kelton, Ram Cowsik
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Speaker: Professor Srinivasa Varadhan
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Thursday, April 15
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Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Al Baernstein
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Speaker: Professor Terry Sheil-Small
Department of Mathematics, University of York, England
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Thursday, April 22
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Loeb Undergraduate Lecture in Mathematics
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: TBA
Host: Prof. Ronald Freiwald
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Speaker: Professor Martin Golubitsky
Department of Mathematics and Director of the Mathematical
Biosciences Institute, Ohio State University
Title: Symmetries and Animal Gaits
Abstract: Many gaits of four-legged animals can be described by
spatio- temporal symmetries. For example, when a horse paces it moves
both left legs in unison and then both right legs and so on. The
motion is
described by two symmetries: Interchange front and back legs, and
swap left and right legs with a half-period phase shift.
Biologists postulate the existence of a central pattern generator
(CPG) in the
neuronal system that sends periodic signals to the legs. CPGs can
be thought of as electrical circuits that produce periodic signals
and can be modeled by coupled systems of differential equations
with
symmetries based on leg permutation. In this lecture we discuss
animal gaits; describe how periodic solutions with prescribed spatio-
temporal symmetry can be formed in symmetric systems; construct a
CPG
architecture that naturally produces quadrupedal gait rhythms; and
make several testable predictions about gaits.
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Thursday, April 29
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Roever Colloquium
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Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Quo-Shin Chi
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Speaker: Professor Simon Brendle
Department of Mathematics, Stanford University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Friday, April 30
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Roever Seminar
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Time: 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Quo-Shin Chi
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Speaker: Professor Simon Brendle
Department of Mathematics, Stanford University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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